Monthly Report: February 2007

CENSORSHIP

Iranian internet service providers were ordered in December to reduce residential bandwidth to 128k, limiting transfer of videos or other large files or websites for the over 20 million internet user in the country.  More significantly, the new low speeds effectively ban voice-over-IP telephone communications, which were not subject to the same government scrutiny as conventional telephone calls. The government has also begun to monitor text messages from cell phones. 

The manager and political editor of an Iranian news site were imprisoned on December 28 and released shortly thereafter.  Their site hosted a video showing a government official on an official visit to Turkey attending a ceremony that featured uncovered women dancing and singing.  Under Iran’s laws, men are not allowed to watch such behavior.  No action was taken against the official.

On January 1, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance decreed that all Iran-related websites must be registered with the government for official approval.  Site owners must also provide personal information such as their name, address, phone number, as well as traffic and audience information about their websites.  Those who do not comply will not only have their sites officially shut down, but they could also suffer legal penalties.  On January 7, the government slackened the rules slightly, saying that blogs without specific domain names would not have to register. The new rule is a step beyond Iran’s well-known practice of internet filtering; Iranian bloggers say the government’s main target is sites dealing with human rights, political opposition, or related NGOs.  It runs counter to the constitution, which requires such a law to be passed by Parliament and not just approved by the Cabinet.

ELECTIONS

As much predicted, a moderate pragmatist-reformist coalition, politically opposed to the current government, won a controlling number of seats in the December 15 Tehran city council elections. 

The Assembly of Experts elections resulted in a landslide against the current administration.  Only one radical was elected, Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, who is the main religious guide and political support for president Ahmadinejad.  Three-quarters of those elected were “traditionalists,” uninterested in Ahmadinejad’s brand of radicalism and preferring to maintain status quo. The next elected group were the pragmatists, led by ex-president Hashemi Rafsanjani.  Voter turnout was over 60%, indicating great dissatisfaction with the current fundamentalist administration. Rafsanjani, as the highest individual vote-getter, is now well-placed to become chairman of the Assembly.  His group rejects the hard-line fundamentalism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government and has potential for creating change in the regime, as the Assembly of Experts supervises the Supreme Leader, who has full authority over the president. 

On January 2, Parliament voted to increase the voting age from 15 to 18.  The president’s administration opposed the bill, citing the importance of youth in the revolutionary spirit.  However, on January 10, the Council of Guardians approved the bill, thus establishing it as law, and thus disenfranchising many who voted for moderate parties in the December elections.

STUDENT PROTESTS

President Ahmadinejad’s speech at Amir Kabir University on December 10 was greeted with hundreds of student protesters, openly shouting hostile remarks at him and burning his image in full view.  Students have been increasingly disgruntled at increased government crackdowns on reformers and liberal professors.  Clashes resulted between students and Basij militia, while Ahmadinejad officially stated that the students were exercising their right to free speech, and that “everyone should know that Ahmadinejad is prepared to be burned in the path of true freedom, independence and justice.” Observers remarked, however, that he appeared visibly upset and “accused [the students] of being paid United States agents who would be confronted.”  Students are now under threat from groups loyal to the government and vulnerable to action by universities.  This is just one incident exposing youth’s disenchantment with the current government; students have been protesting and voicing their discontent with the president since university purges began months ago. 

MINORITIES

Iranian Christian ministers must now provide names of their church members to the Intelligence Ministry.  Iran has experienced a considerable growth in evangelical Christians, who spread primarily through conversion.  Their worship is often not authorized by the government, and thus they cannot attend public churches, being forced to conduct services in private homes, which remain equally illegal.  Since Ahmadinejad’s election, over 50 evangelical Christians have been imprisoned with no trial. 

Ahmadinejad’s visit to Khuzestan on January 3 was met with contempt from the Arab population there, despite his wearing of the Arab keffiya and his reassurances to the people about Iran’s reliance on Khuzestan and the greatness of its people.  Over one million Khuzestanis were reported to have written the President letters of complaint about unemployment and other bad living conditions, which he did not address in his speech. 

In early January, the government announced seven Ahwazi Arab opposition activists were to be executed.  Three Ahwazis had already been executed on December 19.  All were forced to make confessions, and were denied lawyers until their trials began.  Their lawyers were then arrested for complaints about unfair and illegal legal proceedings.

GOVERNMENT CRITICISM

With the government’s refusal to step down on the nuclear issue despite UN sanctions, a considerable voice of criticism and opposition has been raised within Iran.  Members of parliament, with sanction from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, have openly blamed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for escalating tension with the rest of the world.  The reformist party Mosharekat said that Iran should return to the negotiations and dialogue that existed under President Khatami’s administration.  Mosharekat also stated that the government’s insistence on the nuclear issue has distracted necessary attention from more important issues such as human rights and welfare.  Even the conservative newspaper Jomhouri Eslami has declared the sanctions harmful, contrary to the administration’s brush-off, and has additionally blamed Ahmadinejad’s confrontational rhetoric for distracting the nation from more pressing domestic issues.  Additionally, many of the president’s one-time allies, including 150 members of parliament, officially held Ahmadinejad responsible for increasing inflation and unemployment and diverting attention from this through his standoff with the UN.  Such a letter is the first legal step in removing the president from office, should the Majles wish it.  Reports state that Khamenei himself holds the president responsible for UN sanctions, and observers have puzzled at Khamenei’s quiet acceptance of public criticism of the President. 

The reformist newspaper Etemade Melli criticized Ahmadinejad’s recent trip to Latin America, stating that this was hardly the time for such activities as Iran faces increasing diplomatic breakdown.  The strategic value of such partners as Venezuela was also questioned. 

Experts have speculated that Ahmadinejad may not last through his four-year term, and that he might be impeached for failing to address serious domestic issues while further separating Iran from the rest of the world.  He won the election in 2005 on a platform of domestic economic and social improvement, and has so far paid no attention to these issues.

DEATH ROW PRISONER RELEASE

Nazanin Fatehi was retried on January 10 and eventually cleared of murder charges.  The 19 year-old was facing execution for fatally stabbing in self-defense a man trying to rape her and her niece.  She was initially sentenced in January 2006, from which time her case achieved considerable international attention.  Former Miss Canada Nazanin Afshin-Jam, inspired by Fatehi’s case, appealed to the United Nations and launched a petition eventually gaining over 230,000 signatures which was presented to the Iranian government.  Fatehi was retried in a Tehran provincial court, where she was found not guilty.  However, she is sentenced to pay the equivalent of over 23,000 EU to the victim’s family in compensation.